HC Deb 06 August 1940 vol 364 cc51-2W
Mrs. Adamson

asked the President of the Board of Education what proportion of children enrolled in elementary schools were receiving cheap milk under the Milk in Schools Scheme at the beginning of July; whether all education authorities in England and Wales are operating the Milk in Schools Scheme; whether this scheme covers all schools in the authorities' areas; which are the local education authorities referred to in Circular 1520, dated 22nd July, which make no provision for free milk under Section 84 of the Education Act, 1921; and which education authorities make no provision either for free milk or free meals under Section 84 of the Education Act?

Mr. Ramsbotham

On 1st March last 50.1 per cent. of the children on the registers of public elementary schools open for instruction in England and Wales received free or cheap milk under the Milk in Schools Scheme; corresponding figures for the beginning of July are not available. The Milk in Schools Scheme is in operation in the areas of all local education authorities in England and Wales, except Pudsey, Morecambe, the Isles of Scilly, and certain evacuation areas where the schools are closed. In many urban areas the scheme is in operation in all the public elementary schools; in other areas, especially rural areas, the scheme is not in operation in some of the schools. On 1st March last 92.5 per cent. of the children were in schools where the scheme was in operation. According to the latest information in the possession of the Board, the following 24 authorities make no provision either for free meals or for free milk under Section 84 of the Education Act, 1921, but in about six of these areas free milk is provided as medical treatment under Section 80 of the Act, and in four areas the authority have decided to provide free milk under Section 84, and may have already begun to do so: Berkshire, Dorset, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Isles of Scilly, Soke of Peterborough, Somerset, Yorkshire (East Riding), Exeter, Plymouth, Bromley, Deal, Falmouth, Faversham, Harrogate, Kidderminster, Lewes, Maidenhead, Maidstone, Margate, Morecambe, Peterborough, Cardiganshire, Merionethshire.

In Wiltshire, West Ham and Pudsey free solid meals are provided, but no provision is made for free milk.